With what ‘Weapon’ will Russia respond to new US sanctions? Analyst Reveals

The new sanctions of the United States against Russia have just come into force on Monday. A political scientist commented on the measures, stating that the US acts cynically and exclusively in their interests.

The sanctions came into effect today (August 27) at 12:00am Washington time because of the alleged use of chemical weapons by Moscow in the British city of Salisbury, where on March 4 of this year the ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found with signs of poisoning.

The sanctions call for the cessation of any US assistance to Russia “in addition to urgent humanitarian assistance, food and other agricultural products,” as well as prohibiting the export of US weapons and dual-use items (military and civil), except the necessary exports for space collaboration and launch of commercial satellites.

Political scientist Dmitry Zhuravlev commented on this development.

For the expert, the restrictions are not only to hurt Russia, but to show voters that the US is stronger and can put Russia “on its knees.”

“The US ceases everything that can be advantageous to Russia and leaves what is advantageous to them, acting cynically, exclusively in their interests. But beyond space, titanium and rocket carriers, Russia has a ‘fourth’ gun: the currency, the payment of exports in rubles. The US is pushing Moscow to use it,” said Zhuravlev.

- Advertisement -

The political scientist believes that the replacement of the dollar by national currencies in the transactions between trading partners will have serious consequences for the US, reducing the demand for the American currency.

“This will affect the American financial system more than the sanctions will affect Russia,” he opined.

Washington also warned it could introduce a further round of sanctions against Moscow in 90 days but added that it would step down if Russia offered assurances it did not use chemical weapons and let UN experts conduct “local” inspections.

Zhuravlev points out that Russia has liquidated its stocks of chemical weapons and does not produce them.

“It’s not the first time that they have been acting on the principle ‘we think so, then we’re right'”, emphasized the analyst, saying that such behavior of American politicians is typical of its unipolar vision of the world.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the new sanctions unproductive and unwise. At the same time, he expressed the hope that the US understands that such a policy is doomed to failure. If Washington understands this, Moscow and Washington can cooperate normally.

Paul Antonopoulos is a Research Fellow at the Center for Syncretic Studies. He has an MA in International Relations and is interested in Great Power Rivalry as well as the International Relations and Political Economy of the Middle East and Latin America.